Shoe-polishing machine.



No. 831,881. PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. F. R. LAY a; F. P. OHURGHMAVN.

SHOE POLISHINGIMAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11,1904.

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No. 881,881. PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. F. R. LAY & F. F. GHURCHMAN.

SHOE POLISHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED mm". 11, 1904.

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witucaaqo WW 1 N m PATENTED- SEPT. 25, 1906. F. R. LAY & F. F. GHURCHMAN.

SHOE POLISHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

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UNITED STATES PATENT.

FRANK R. LAY AND FRANK F. CHURCHMAN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA,

ASSIGNORS TO AMERICAN SHOE POLISHING MACHINE COMPANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

SHOE-POLISHING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. "25, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK R. LAY and FRANK F. CHURCHMAN, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Shoe-Polishing Machine; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exac description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved shoe-polishing machine capable of polishing shoes mechanically and without the aid of the hands or hand-brushes.

One feature consists in the arrangement of brushes for cleaning, daubin and polishing the shoes so that they wi l adjust themselves to shoes of various sizes and will reach the entire surface of the shoe. In combination with the brushes a traveling conveyer is provided between them for carrying the foot of a person between the brushes. Means is also provided for operating the brushes at varying speeds, accordin to their function, and also for moistening and sup lying blacking to the daubing-brushes. 'Ifiese and the various other features of the invention will be understood from the accompany ing drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the shoe-conveyer. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lower part of the machine with the standards and cover in crosssection. Fig. 4 is a plan view of means for supplying blacking material to the dauber, the same being shown on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an inside elevation of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 3 with the daubers together. Fig. 8 is the same with the daubers separated and receiving blacking material. Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a vertical transverse section on the line 10 10 of Fig. 3. Fig. 11 is a vertical section through the means for mounting the cleaning-brushes on the line 11 11 of Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a vertical section on the line 12 12 of Fig. 1 through the coin-controlled apparatus, showing the parts in position when the coin is first inserted, parts being broken away. Fig. 13 is the same, showing the position of the parts as the coin leaves the chute. the line 14 14 0 Fig. 12, showing the position of the parts while the coin is inserted. Fig; 15 is the same, showing the positionof the parts after the coin has escaped. Fig.-'-16 is afront elevation of Fig. 12.

This device consists of a main lower porf l Fi 14 is a transverse section-on 1 tion 10 with an electric motor-box-1 l"-at'ione.1; side, and a handle 12 on the upper endof uprights or standards 13- from the fm ain lower portion, 14 in the uprights 13 for controllin theiele' tric motor through the medium 0 -it'he l'e tric conductors 15.

The lower and mam part of the inachiri'e consists of a rectangular box or casing 10 "with the top thereof preferably depress ed centrally and longitudinally, as seeninFigs. v

7 and 8, and provided with transverse slots 17, through which the spindles 1 8 of the and a coin-controlled device f brushes extend and-operate. Inthe-mar chine as here shown three pairsof brushes appear, the brushes brushes, made preferably of stiff material,"so as to remove the dirt. The brushes-21 are daubers for applying blacking to the shoe and are made of softer material than the brushes 20. The brushes 22 are polishersv and are made of very soft material. These brushes are all mounted alike, and their number may be increased or diminished, as the needs may require. These brushes are preferably formed like the frustum of a cone with the greater diameter upward, but they may be formed in any other manner adapted to best reach the different portions of the surface of a'shoe.

Within the casing stands .24 and 25 are mounted in a longitudinal row oneach side of the middle of the chamber within the casing, as seen in Figs. 7 and 9. The stands 25 are at one end and carry bearings 26 for the motorshaft 27, which is driven by the motor 28. At the upper end of the stands 25, as seen in Fig. 11, there is mounted a verticalshaft 29, on which a bevel-gear 30 is secured. Said bevel-gear is driven by a companion gear 31 on the shaft 27. To the upper end of the shaft on which the gear 30 is mounted the brush-shaft is mounted by a universal joint eing cleaning ICC , and by this means the brushes 22 are rotated. There are two of these brushes and driving means oppositely located with their bevel-gears 31 passing each other, so that the brushes will rotate in opposite directions.

The brushes 21 (shown in Figs. 7 and 8) are similarly mounted on similar vertical shafts 29, mounted in the upper end of the stands 24, and they are driven by the gearwheels 35, that mesh with gears 34 upon the shaft 39 in the stands 25. The brushes are similarly mounted and are driven by the gears 36, that mesh with the gears 35.

The brush-driving mechanism will be understood froin the foregoing description, and the brushes are driven at difiere'nt speeds by reason of the fact that the gears are much greater in diameter than the gears 34 and 36. This causes the cleaning and polishing brushes to rotate more rapidly than the daubers. Each pair of brushes is drawn together by a spring 40, connected at each end with the brush shafts 18. These springs 40 draw the brushes against the shoe, and the brushes spread as a shoe, especially a large shoe, passes between them, so that they engage and rub the entire surface of the shoe as the brushes meet above, and the shoe embeds itself in the fiber of the brushes, so that the sides of the shoe are engaged by the brushes. The slots 17 and the swivel-mounting of the brushes permit them to spread.

In operation a person places his foot on a conveyer 42 at the right-hand end as shown in Figs. 3 and 9, and he holds to a handle 12 to maintain his equilibrium. The conveyer 42 moves in the direction of the arrow and carries the foot and shoe through and between the two rows ofbrushes. Said conveyer, as seen in Fig. 2, consists of plates connected at their ends with a sprocket-chain 43, and on said plates there are pins 44 for engaging the shoe to prevent the shoe slipping on the conveyer.

The conveyer is driven by the following means: Two shafts 45 are mounted horizontally in the casing 10 and carry sprocketwheels 46, on which the sprocket-chains 43 are mounted. These sprocket-wheels and shafts are under the top of the casing, and the wheels run through slots 47, as seen in Fi 3 in the casing, so that the periphery of the wheels extends slightly above the top of the casing and carries the upper part of the conveyerabove the casing. Consequently the conveyer passes through transverse slots 48 in the casing, as seen in Fig. 9.

The right-hand shaft 45, as seen in Fig. 9, is driven by a gear 50, secured on said shaft, that meshes with the gear 51 on the transverse shaft 52. Said shaft 52 is driven by a gear 53, that meshes with a worm 54 on the shaft 55, mounted on the post 56, as seen in Figs. 8 and 9. The shaft 55 is driven by a gear 57, that meshes with a worm 58 on the driving-shaft 27, as seen in Fig. 10.

Therefore a commonmea'ns or single means drives both the brushes and the conveyer.

The dauber has blacking applied to it by the means shown in Figs. 3 to 6'. On each side of the machine and near the daubers we provide a moistener 60 and a blacking-holder 61 adjacent and substantially at a right angle to each other. The moistener contains avessel for water, and a wick 62 extends into the vessel and over the side thereof next to the daubers, and a sponge or pad 63 is placed adjacent the outside portion of said wick, so that it will become charged with moisture, whichreaches it by reason of capillary attraction through the wick.

Acake of blacking 64 is secured to the blacking holder 61. Hence when the daubers are thrown laterally against said moistener and blackening apparatus and rotated the brush will first receive moisture from the pad 63, and the moistened fibers of the brush will during such rotation take up blacking from the cake 64 and apply it to the shoe.

The daubers are thrown laterally against the moistening and blacking means by extensions 65 on each side of the conveyer. These extensions 65 may be located at intervals on the conveyer, and as such portions of the conveyer pass between the daubers the latter are pressed outward. Therefore in operation it is desirable to place the foot on the conveyer in such position that these projections 65 will be in advance of the foot.

A. cover 66 is placed on each side over the brushes and blacking-boxes 61, as seen in Fig. 1, with sufficient space left between them to permit the leg to ass without obstruction.

The coin-control ed apparatus rests on a cross-bar 70 and is shown in Figs. 1 and 12. The details of this apparatus are shown in Figs. 12 to 16 for the purpose of illustrating means for giving to the brushes and traveling shoe support or conveyer movement through a predetermined period. Any other construction of coin-controlled apparatus capable of accomplishing such result would suffice in this connection. In the front part of this coin-controlled apparatus a coin-chute 71is mounted, having behind it a vertical guiding mechanism 72 for a coin-receiving slide 73, adapted to receive the coin 74. This slide has a transversely-mounted rod 75, that is longitudinally movable and is pressed forward by a spring 76. Said slide 73 is held in its upper position and in osition to receive the coin by a spring 77, the ower end of which is mounted in a barrel 78. Near the slide 7 3 as seen in Fig. 14, there are two contact-strips 80, that carry binding-posts 115 at their lower ends, to which are connected the wires 15, one of which runsfrom some source of electrical energy and the other runs to the motor below. Said strips are insulated from the casing 14 ofthe coin-controlled apparatus by insulation 81. A slidingwedge-shaped contact-block 82 is mounted on the rod and extends between the strips 80.

When the coin is inserted, as shown in Figs. 12 and 14., it pushes the rod 75 rearward, and that forces the contact-point 82 into engagement with the contact-strips 80, and thus the electric circuit is closed and the motor started. As the shaft 55 operates a worm 84 thereon meshes with a gear 85, that is mounted on the shaft 185 and meshes with the gear 186 on the lower end of the rod 86, that passes through a tube 187 androtates said rod, as seen in Fig. 12. Said rod 86 has a worm 87 on it, with which the rear end of the rod 75 engages. As the machine operates this worm draws the whole coin-holding slide downward to the position shown in Fig. 13 until the coin escapes through the slot 88 into the coin-receptacle below, and then the spring 76 pushes the rod 75 to the left out of engagement with the worm, and the spring 77 pushes the slide upward into its orlginal position. As soon as the rod 75 has been thus released by the coin the contact-block 82 disengages the strips and the circuit is broken, and the machine stops until another coin is inserted.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a shoe-polishing machine, a casing with two parallel rows of transverse slots in the top thereof far enough apart to admit a shoe between them, supports mounted within the casing under said slots, vertical shafts mounted in said supports, brush-spindles connected by universal joints to the upper ends of said shafts and extending through said slots, brushes on said spindles, springs for drawing the opposite brushes toward each other, and gear-wheels of different diameters mounted on said shafts for rotating the brushes at different speeds.

2. In a shoe-polishing machine, an endless traveling shoe-support, a row of brushes mounted on each side of said shoe-support and extending upwardly and inclined normally toward each other immediately over said shoe-support and so as to be movable toward and away from said shoe-support, means for drawing the brushes toward said shoe-support, and means for rotating the brushes.

3. In a shoe-polishing machine, an endless traveling shoe-support consisting ofa pair of sprocket-chains with transverse strips connecting them, sprocket-wheels on which said chains are mounted, means for driving said sprocket-wheels, a row of brushes mounted on each side of said shoe-support so as to be movable toward and away from said shoesupport, means for drawing the brushes toward said shoe-support, and means for rotating the brushes.

4. In a shoe-polishing machine, a casing With two parallel rows of transverse slots in the top thereof and a tra'hsverse slot in said top beyond the ends of the parallel rows of slots, an endless shoe-conveyer passing over the top of the casing between the parallel rows of slots and throughthe transverseslot at the ends down into the casing, means within the casing on which said conveyor is carried, means for moving said conveyer, a row of brushes mounted on each side of said shoesupport so as to be movable toward and away from said shoe-support, means for drawing the brushes toward. said shoe-support, and means for rotatin the brushes. 1 5. In a shoe-p0 ishing machine, a pair of oppositely-located brushes between which a shoe may be crowded and so mounted as to be movable toward and away from each other, means for rotating said brushes, a blacking-box mounted near each of said brushes, and means for bringin the brush to the blacking-box for applying bIacking to the brush.

6. In a shoe-polishing machine, .apair of oppositely-located brushes so mounted as to be movable toward and away from each other, a stationary blacking-holder mounted near each of said brushes, means fon drfayving said brushes toward each other,-mea?ii's for spreading said brushes so as to bringfishem in contact with ,said blacking-holders, and means for rotatin the brushes.

7. In a shoe-p0 'shing machine, a casing with a pair of op ositely-located transverse slots in the to t ereof, spindles extending upward throug said slots with brushes on the upper end thereof, said s indles being so mounted as to permit sai brushes to be moved toward and away from each other, means for drawing said brushes toward each other, means for rotating the brushes, a blacking-holder mounted on the top of the casing beside each brush in a position to be engaged by each brush when the brushes are moved away from each other, and a conveyer for the shoe movable between the brushes and having lateral extensions that engage the spin dles to move the brushes into engagement with said blacking-holders.

8. In a shoe-polishing machine, an up wardly-extending rotary brush, means for moving the same laterally, ablacking-holder mounted stationary in position to be engaged by said brush when the brush is moved laterally, and means for moistening the brush mounted near said blacking-holder in position to be engaged by the brush fibers before they engage the blacking-holder.

9. In a shoe-polishing machine, an upwardly-extending rotary brush, means for moving the same laterally, a blacking-box mounted in position to be engaged by said brush when moved laterally, said blackin box consisting of two sections near eac other, one of sa1d sections being provided with a water-chamber, a moistening-pad on said section in position to engage the brush and a wick extending from said water-chamber into connection with the moistening-pad, and the other section provided with means for holding blacking.

10. In a shoe-polishing machine, a traveling shoe-conveyer, a brush mounted on each side of said shoe-conveyor for brushing the shoe as it passes between them, means for drawing said brushes toward each other, means for rotating said brushes, a blackingbox mounted near each brush in position to be engaged by the brush when the brushes are pushed away from each other, and means on the shoe-conveyer for spreading said brushes and pushing theminto engagement with the blacking-boxes.

11. In a shoe-polishing machine, parallel rows of brushes arranged in transverse pairs and mounted so as to be movable toward and away from each other, means for forcing them toward each; other, a blacking-box placed on each side of one pair of brushes in position to be engaged by said brushes when they are pushed apart, and a conveyor for the shoe movable between said brushes with lateral extensions that force said brushes into engagement with the blacking-boxes.

In witness whereof wehave hereunto af fixed our signatures in the presence of the Witnesses herein named.

FRANK R. LAY. FRANK F. OHURCHMAN. Witnesses:

V. H. LooKwooD, N. ALLEMONG. 

